Consumer Apps and Services: Microsoft's Often-Overlooked Crown Jewels

While Microsoft's business offerings have long dominated the conversation around the software giant, I'm increasingly excited by the firm's growing set of integrated consumer services that work via apps on all popular mobile device platforms. It is here, I think, that Microsoft's "mobile first, cloud first" mantra is most clearly seen, because the services that impact end users directly are those that make the most sense on mobile devices.

But here's the tragedy: Most consumers, I bet, rarely even consider Microsoft's mobile app and web services offerings. Most don't even know they exist.

Part of the reason for this is no doubt because of Microsoft's reputation as a provider of business technology products and services. And while it's fair to point out that the majority of the firm's revenues do come from business customers, that doesn't diminish the quality of its consumer-oriented offerings, or the impact this company has with individuals, through apps and on the web.

Another part of the reason is that as our computing habits have changed, and consumers have embraced non-Microsoft platforms like Android and iOS, many simply assume that Microsoft has no presence on those mobile platforms. Some don't even think through it that far: They simply use Apple's offerings exclusively on iPhone and Google's offerings exclusively on Android. It's an easy thing to say that a user of any mobile platform will get the best experiences on that company's own platform. But that's no longer universally true. And it's easy to mix and match regardless of which platform(s) you choose.

This situation Microsoft finds itself in today is understandable. But it's also too bad because of the major platform providers only Microsoft is offering a truly integrated set of apps and services that work across all of the platforms people are really using. And these aren't just standalone services—email, online storage, office productivity, music, video, whatever—these services also integrate with each other, and they do so across platforms. The other platform makers are more concerned with lock-in, not in making their services work everywhere.

(There are exceptions, obviously. Google makes a lot of its services available on iOS through apps, for example. But beyond web apps, it ignores Windows utterly.)

Inevitably in this kind of discussion a few contentious points come up.

Microsoft, many will argue, has been somewhat forced down this path because its only truly successful computing platform, Windows, has seen no traction at all in the new mobile computing world. And sure enough: Microsoft pushed its "Windows only" and then "Windows first" strategies well beyond the point at which doing so made any sense at all. But that was the past, and the Microsoft of today is unique in its broad support for other platforms. I'm interested in what's happening now, not what happened in 2004.

Also, any time the terms "Microsoft" and "other platforms" comes up, we inevitably hear from the pro-Windows crowd because they get anxious and upset any time Microsoft supports a non-Windows platform with some core app or service, and especially so when that other platform gets an app, or a new feature, or whatever, before Windows. To these people I say, no offense, really. But you need to wake up. And grow up.

Android is already running away with the top platform crown in this "mobile first, cloud first" era, and Microsoft artificially propping up Windows (and Windows Phone) with exclusive apps and services not only won't change things in the slightest, it may actually aggravate the problem. Windows is going to settle into whatever market/usage share level it settles into, and, whatever the level it's a distant second behind Android no matter how you slice it. Likewise, if the situation gets any worse, Apple's iOS (or perhaps iOS combined with Mac) could surpass Windows this decade as well, leaving Microsoft in third place, a potential also-ran. If the firm's apps and services aren't everywhere, Microsoft is sunk, and so is everyone who relies on those services. That's all of us, by the way.

You already know the world is changing. And if you're still seeing things through a 1990's-style Microsoft lens, my advice is simple: Embrace or at least acknowledge the shifts that everyone else on earth is already making. Someone isn't necessarily stupid because they've chosen an iPhone, no matter what you think of that decision. Likewise, Android isn't horrible just because you think it's a mess, or fragmented, or whatever the complaint is this week. These are mainstream platforms that rival and even surpass the popularity of Windows in its heyday. Even platforms like Fire OS, Mac and Chrome OS have their place in today's heterogeneous world.

My expectation is that we'll see Microsoft improve its already considerable support for all of these platforms, in a way that is commensurate with their relative success, moving forward. Since I am interested primarily in personal technology, I will not be ignoring these changes. More to the point, I intend to closely and regularly cover Microsoft's consumer offerings—and in a cross-platform matter when it makes sense to do so—going forward. This is a big focus for me.

To that end, I'll be examining the state of Microsoft apps/services like Outlook.com, OneDrive, Office 365 Home and Personal, Skype, Bing and MSN, Xbox Music and Xbox Video, and more, separately, in the weeks ahead, and try to understand where Microsoft is in this ongoing shift to "mobile first, cloud first." I'll try to figure out when using these services makes more sense on rival platforms, especially, than the similar services offered by those platform makers and by third parties. And yes, I'll be looking at how these apps and services often are better on Windows, because sometimes they still are.

This is the new normal. And we all need to embrace it.

Just so we're clear: My personal preference is heavily on the Windows/Microsoft side of the fence. I use and will continue to use Windows PCs. I use and prefer Windows Phone. But as you must know, I also use other devices. I have the latest Android handsets and iPhone (5S), and will get an iPhone 6 (or whatever it's called) as soon as I can. I have multiple iPads (Air, mini with Retina Display) and an iPod touch, and a new MacBook Air and Chromebook are on the way. I use various Android tablets regularly, and will continue doing so (and in fact need to figure out a full-sized Android tablet soon). I feel like all this experience with these platforms, and with accessory devices like Apple TV, Chromecast, and related services, gives me a much more well-rounded understanding of the state of the industry, and of these competing ecosystems. So when I choose to use Windows, I do so not from tunnel vision or inertia but rather because I fully understand the alternatives and have certain needs. I think this is the right approach.

Discuss this Article 32

Funny you should start writing about this as It's something I've been considering lately. Why? For one unfortunate fact only: Windows Phone is so poorly represented here in Canada by the carriers, I've been wondering if switching to Android and accessing my Microsoft services from there makes sense.

I'm waiting to see if we get the new HTC One, and the new Lumias, here before I make the final decision.

OneDrive app on Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8.1 works well for photo backup. Furthermore, I prefer the photographic experience of the OneDrive web site over the fist fight that is Google+. So now I find myself "locked in" to OneDrive as my cross platform backup solution for phone device photos.

Apple requires that you download all the backed up photos to iPhoto on all your devices. What happened to the Cloud? But Apple makes it simple. So that will work for the most people.

I concur with most of your points except the part about the app or feature showing up on other platforms before Windows. The problem I have with this is not the grand vision of Microsoft becoming "mobile first, cloud first", but the fact that it adds fuel to the "so-called" journalists who use these actions as an excuse to bash Microsoft, thus adding paranoia that Microsoft is abandoning the consumer side of Windows. Microsoft has a deficit in app parity and it just doesn't make sense when they contribute to this deficit. This strategy is working and the perception of Microsoft as a consumer-friendly company is dwindling with acts like these, which makes it incredibly difficult to even defend the platform when other platforms have features that the Windows version doesn't. When this happens, the first question that pops into my mind is "What is the point of Windows?" From a consumer point of view, this is difficult to answer. If Microsoft wants to seriously be considered as "consumer-friendly", then they need to prove that Windows + Microsoft services is still a viable and distinctive platform for many. Don't get me wrong, it is important to offer products/services on other platforms but doing it at the expense of their own platform is simply bone-headed and does NOT inspire confidence.

OTOH, you are absolutely correct that many folks on other platforms assume that Microsoft has no presence in the mobile realm. I just explained to a co-worker about OneDrive after he and I got a Surface Pro 3 for work and I explained about the benefits of using OneDrive especially with Office. He has an iPhone and thought iCloud was sufficient. After a brief demonstration, he was convinced to use OneDrive and started using it for everything. Sadly, he never heard of this service until I mentioned it.

"To these people I say, no offense, really. But you need to wake up. And grow up."

Yes, and, by the way, you just proved our point which was, really, that Microsoft is pushing us (the 3% using Windows Phone) in Android's (or Apple's) arms, where we will be able to happily continue using Microsoft's apps and services (plus many others). Whether this is good strategy or not is of course a different discussion.

This being said, I'm very interested in your future series of articles discussing the matter, beginning with Outlook.com, because I'm contemplating to buy a new flagship handset to replace my venerable Lumia 920 next fall / winter. I really like the direction your writing is taking on this website.

Paul, there really is no need to talk down to your readers. It isn’t an issue of waking up or growing up. Well perhaps for some it is, but many of us are pretty well informed thanks in no small part to your own efforts. However, I believe that Microsoft is sending a pretty negative message to current & prospective customers (however small a percentage it may be that would even be aware of this issue) and developers when it doesn’t develop for its own platform concurrently or at least shortly thereafter and to the same or a superior feature level. Why should other developers give their best and first efforts to such a tiny market as Windows Phone when even Microsoft doesn’t? With the latest update the OS is finally competitive with iOS and Android. However the app gap and consumer perception issues are very real and moves like this don’t really help either issue. Microsoft is certainly correct in making as many of their apps and services available on Andriod and iOS as soon as they can and as well as they can, but they need to do this while doing the same for Windows Phone.

It was the promise of exactly this kind of integration that kept my interest in Windows Phone alive during my long years of sole reliance on Blackberry for mobile devices. I came to cloud services and subscription models only begrudgingly as well. My distaste for monthly, yearly fees was offset, however, by my mania for having updates, updates, updates! So I came around and by that time there were so many pestering cloud services popping up that I seized upon SkyDrive/OneDrive just so I could remember where I put everything. And MS's gigabyte generosity made it easy to do away with all those Dropbox, Box, Icloud, Adobe Cloud, Amazon Cloud, etc.

I also got on the outlook.com bandwagon and am in the process of moving my non-work email accounts (where we use Exchange) away from yahoo, google and other pop3 accounts, to just outlook.com. Having so many options on the market drives me to want just one, uniform, integrated platform. So I hope MS continues and accelerates down these lanes. They certainly have more ground that needs better covering. My concern is this late, pronounced MSconcentration on servicing IOS and Android.

I too am looking at OneDrive again. The thing I never seem to see for these services is the upload speeds the ISPs have us trapped at. I have 6M-Down and on average 800K-Up. It makes no sense to me to have to set the device running overnight to back up (or synch) my data at 800K. If we had decent upload speeds then using these services makes more sense. Until then, I am local storage bound with a NAS that scoots data in the 40-Mb range. The cloud, for me, no matter what the service is, makes no practical sense.

A friend of mine is a daytrader, he listens to CNBC all day long, the crew of which often has a row of Apple devices across their desks. He has been bad mouthing Microsoft for years now because of what he "hears" about it. I showed him how he can use OneDrive on his devices the other day, and I gifted him one of my Office installations to encourage him to use that 1TB of storage space. He hasn't stopped praising the integrated system since.

Just like the devices; MS needs to get this stuff into the hands of the people AND the ads should teach people how to use the stuff.

I look forward to you possibly discussing the Windows RT Photo program some day soon. The fact that I still have to dive in and out of folders to see my pictures on this app is pathetic at this point. When are they going to fix that app, this is what consumers use, and to limit the slide show to only one folder at a time, is ridiculous at this point in the app ecosystems maturity. Venting done....

I know this is said a lot, but it's true: Microsoft does a *terrible* job of advertising. I can't understand how a company with that kind of money - enough to hire the most talented marketing people in the industry - can't get awareness out to people about their generally excellent products.

They also need to do it in a way that isn't so "meh". For example, the Honestly ad campaign wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. I want something that I make an emotional connection to, or at least am visually attracted to. Remember this minute-long intro video when the Surface was revealed? That's one aspect of what I'm talking about, and I can't for the life of me understand why they didn't trim it to 30 seconds and release that as one of their ads. I still get chills looking at it. For that matter, the dancing ad that everyone seems to hate was actually excellent. It caught people's attention which is exactly what an advertisement for a new product category should do. They just failed to follow it up with anything explaining the product, which was incredibly stupid. It's like the entire department didn't have an ounce of common sense.

Anyway, I'd love to see a series of ads that each focus on one of their services, with the kind of polished, human, and modern feel that Apple, and to an extent Google, does so well. A 30 second spot for OneDrive showing (again in a very visual, modern way) what you can fit in 15 GB, and then pointing out the upsell to Office 365 and it's 1 TB of OneDrive space. A sub-series of Xbox Entertainment ads to clearly show that it's not just games - one 30 second ad for Xbox Music, one for Video, and if they ever get off their butts and make an eBook platform like everyone else… one for that too. Oh and don't forget OneNote!

If Microsoft seriously wants to go after consumers - and there is no reason they shouldn't with the wonderful array of products and services they have - they NEED to advertise. Apple and Google don't need to because they are the giants whose products Joe Consumer already uses. Microsoft does not have that luxury, and they need to proactively shape people's perceptions.

Paul, I have been trying to move to their cloud first strategy and have slowly been moving my most imporatant documents onto OneDrive to improve my backup strategy. But I want you to know yesterday my most important spreadsheet could no longer be opened. It was telling me the file was corrupted. So I managed to open with the online version of Excel and then downloaded it so I could continue to work on it. Now today I am getting the same error. I don't need a cloud solution that will consistently corrupt, and make unusable, my files. So I went to report a problem and on that part of the site you can't even tell them what the problem is. All you can do is select a category and then submit. They seem to want success, but all their actions, or maybe just lack of thought do nothing more then push users away.

I see the appeal of Google Services: FREE, low spec ... but besides home businesses and small start ups; real companies cannot be using google. In the near future if my doctor wanted me to contact their offices via HANGOUTS or email their GMAIL accounts my 1st thought is "THAT"S NOT HIPPA COMPLANT" oh and let me mention that I really don't even care (it's the 21st century being an 80's baby I've maturated into a society that has far surpassed Orwell's 1984; its the "POST 9/11 ERA" reality.)

Anyway after several years with Android and playing with Apple I'm back in the Microsoft Universe and things are FREE; the paid options are superior to any other products out there and the user experience is now leading the innovation in the space. We need the competition though without Google Drive trust OneDrive OneNote and OfficeOnline would not be as great as they are. I'm enjoying this ebb & flow.

If no one knows about Microsoft's products and services, it's because Microsoft doesn't advertise them.

It's probably a good idea that Microsoft NOT advertise them as "Microsoft products," but they could at least ADVERTISE them.

In fact, the benefit of Microsoft's products is that they are cross-platform... and they should make exactly that point. OneDrive, Office 365, Skype, Outlook... these work on iPhone, Android and Windows... so even if you switch devices, our services follow you. And then go on to directly contrast that with Google and Apple services... which do not. Of course, the gaping whole in their services is no YouTube alternative. I mean, sure... there's Bing videos... but it's not quite as good as YouTube... so Microsoft needs to improve on it.

Why aren't we seeing this? Microsoft wants to be a "services" company... but they're not advertising their services. It's dumb.

Microsoft is on the right path but needs a lot more effort communicating (marketing) its vision and value proposition with their cross platform apps and services. It also needs to continuously improve their apps and services.

Once Microsoft apps and services reach critical mass, Windows and Windows Phone can ride on them to offer the ultimate Microsoft experience.

Aside from desktop Windows and Office (essential for my work), Microsoft's decision to embrace all platforms with its services is the main thing I value about it. There's no way I want to limit my hardware choices to a single ecosystem, so knowing I'd be able to access official Microsoft apps on any device is a big draw, and something I don't get with Apple and Google services.

That being said, I think there's a lot of room for improvement. For example, I use competitors alternatives to xbox music/video, and to OneDrive for general files (I only use OneDrive for photos), because of limitations in these services.

I guess I'm not really loyal to any one tech ecosystem. I use Windows PCs exclusively at work and at home, except that I also have a MacBook Air for testing purposes. However, my phone is an iPhone 5, and I also use an iPad Air and a Nexus 7 tablet. For entertainment, I have both a Roku and an Apple TV.

For email, I use Yahoo mail, Gmail, and Outlook.com. However, I download most of my mail to Outlook 2013 on my desktop PC and don't leave it on a server.

For communications, I use Skype, Google Voice, and Ooma.

I could go on, but like many people these days, I don't really care who's providing the service or the tool, so long as it works. I do avoid using some Google services because of privacy concerns, but that's another issue.

Yea, I'm one of those that need to wake up and grow up. For the record my daily phone is a 1020, and I have a 1520, 720, 520(s), 920, 900, 710, and few I have given away, and an iPhone 4s and a MotoX. I'm a Windows Phone guy. So, I'm supposed to be OK that I get better/sooner support for my MS services on my iPhone and Android than my Windows Phone. I get the market share, so does everyone else. But if I can't get anymore on WP than any other platform why should I, or anyone, care about it? If I can get integrated Business O365 in OneDrive on Android, why can't that happen at least at the same time on my WP app? Is WP to hard for even MS to program to? Do they just not care? Are they just validating the go with the leader mentality? Even with this sort of 'snub' and the 'relative' lack of app support, I still enjoy using the WP OS more than either of the others. Wish MS would occasionally reward me for that, by being as loyal to me as I have been to them. They say charity begins at home. Maybe MS should show a little of that spirit with WP. I'm not saying abandon those other OSs, but maybe don't make your own users feel like red headed step children.

A world without Windows (or a viable third ecosystem with unique competitive advantages) is a dark one. One in which we cannot even easily group our contacts. (At least the last time I used an iPhone it was not possible) We need the competition and the innovation that today's consumer tech marketplace actually has to continue.

The reason that people don't know about Microsoft's services is plain and simple: their marketing department is utterly incompetent. They could create the greatest device ever and it would fail, simply because people won't know about it and they'll continue to think that anything Microsoft does just sucks. When are those employees going to get fired?

The other half of this is that not enough has been said about Google's snooping. They have already been caught hacking people's private WiFi networks and stealing their traffic. There's no way I would EVER own a Google device or use their services.

Why does it have to be one or the other? I straddle business and consumer. I moved from iPhone to Windows Phone and nothing said here will move me back. Same with tablets, laptops or game systems. I am firmly in the MS camp and I see nothing that should change my mind. My wife recently got a Macbook Air. Nothing attracts me there and I shopped for and bought it for her. She had an iPhone 5s and barely gets 4 hours of battery time. There is little she can do that I can't even without full Google support. I use the MS web apps One Drive and live and die by One Note.

The consumer apps and services that I think MS should focus on is Media Center As A Service (MCAAS). I think this would solve a number of issues for the Consumer, Content and Cable Companies and Microsoft.

Media Content could be streamed using Azure servers to consumers on any device such as a Roku, Xbox, Chromecast Apple TV, tablet, phone, computer, etc. Cable Companies through a back end Administration service could allow users to access content in which they are permitted to view through their cable subscription. Users could access live, on-demand content or they could dvr content that could be held in OneDrive. In addition to cable companies, content providers such as NBC, FOX, MSNBC can make the content available via their apps available through a service like this as well (almost like the Bing News Feed but with video content instead). In time I think most content providers would stop building their own app which just allows them to make content.

This benefits everyone since the Consumers can finally access all of their content from any device without having to be too tech savy (like those of us who media centers).

Cable companies stay relevant by allowing consumers the type of access they want, off load building applications and managing streaming services to Microsoft, and allow people to be cord cutters but use their services. Cable companies could differentiate themselves by making deals with Content Providers for on-demand services of specific shows with the differentiation being that the users would not need to use OneDrive access to DVR shows.

Microsoft wins by getting Cable Companies and Content Providers to pay for Azure Services and by winning the living room. Winning the living room would be a huge feather in the cap of the Microsoft. They win not by having their box on the consumer side but making their services available on the back end. In turn since they are building the application they finally get the killer app although the application would be available to Android and Apple users MS has leverage. MS can decide that the OneDrive integration is key and thus force any users using the service to use OneDrive even while being on Android or Apple devices. Or MS could open up storage options to things like Google Drive and iCloud and in tun they provide applications to Windows Store like GMail, Google Maps, iTunes, etc. MS hardware wins because they get integration not available on the other platforms such as with Cortana. If MS builds a streaming XBox which I believe was mentioned before XBox One premiered but was dropped then they have a compelling case with MCAAS and XBox Streaming Game services. The Streaming Gaming service is another service that MS is pushing hard towards which would be another huge win for them as well.

I really like the Microsoft platform, but it really ticks me off that other platforms get Microsoft updates ahead of us with Windows Phones, but I realize too that that is where the money is. But all said what really gets in my craw is that Microsoft it seams doesn't finish the apps they put out. For example: When the Bing apps came out, they (MSFT) were touting that the apps would sync across devices. For the most part they do, with the Food & Drink app being the exception. In fact now they (MSFT) has even included in the app description that the only part of it that would sync is the ingredients list.... The most important part of the app, is the Collections, but it won't sync. WTH!... Oh yea, and try an add one of your own recipes to your phone. .... WHY Microsoft.... Like this app I'm finding that a lot of the Microsoft apps are half baked.

The mobile/cloud first strategy is just a very risky strategy. It's not a guarantee for success. I think this strategy is doomed, because of multiple factors:
- World politics proves that abandoning on-premise will NEVER work. Microsoft can fight es much as it want against governments to protect whatever it wants. You can't stand against political decisions.
- Selling the table silver, because of making important products available on Android will bring some one time effects for the first years. But at the end they are ultimately destroy Windows and give a strong commitment to the market to switch to Android, because all important software is available.
- Google is more than willing to engage on every single product. Its more easy for them to compete on their own platform.
- Large OEMs like Samsung/Huawei benefits from Googles business model. As long as Bing can't return them enough money, they will pre-install any custom Google Android. These version can potentially always add some constraints to 3rd party developers.
- Destroying Windows would also destroy gaming that is still important. It would destroy Direct3D and ultimately hurt Xbox, because devs would now invest less effort for their DirectX layers.

Microsoft has had lots of opportunities, but they missed most of them, because of bad execution. The problem is not the strategy, but some people. I guess product managers and some intermediate managers are doing very bad and holding back the technical/creative people.

I want to +1 the issue with the Metro and WP8.1 Photo apps. MS sold me on organizing by tags over folders with Photo Gallery. 3 years in and there is no support for that in WP. Last I looked W8 Metro didn't have much or any. (If I were to go all Metro like to RT, that lack of tagging would be a problem.)

It's interesting to see this non-awareness of Microsoft services play out by the uptick of feedback from kids going back to college. The r/OneNote subreddit is generally quiet but recently there have been a lot of really basic questions about it's functionality.

A recent question was on how to get it to sync better through GOOGLE DRIVE. Apparently this person just knew about OneNote as great for lecture notes (maybe seeing others use it, who knows) but had absolutely no clue about the FREE OneDrive/Skydrive sync necessary to really enable OneNote everywhere.

I really don't get the mindset it takes to use something every single day without even casually asking yourself how it works and what the alternatives are. Icloud, gdrive, gmail, facebook etc etc are apparently full of users who just look into it enough to sign up for it but don't bother looking a little deeper? People are spending huge chunks of their lives using tools to enhance said lives but somehow can't be bothered to spend a tiny fraction of that time to ensure that those are actually the best tools available.... I don't get it.

I really don't want to care if Microsoft can reach those that can't be bothered to inform themselves but the result is that platforms that I know and use will die off without adoption by the willfully ignorant.

As a consumer I am not really aware that Microsoft is into consumers at all. There is no brand or marketing presence, and the services quoted: Outlook, Xbox Video, OneDrive, Xbox music are second rate. And Xbox Music is a real embarrassment.
Now I prefer the look of WP over my Nexus Android devices, and the development experience in Windows is much cleaner. But thanks to Xamarin I can deploy into Android market place.

So as a consumer I understand why the consumer market has given up on Microsoft, after all Microsoft does not show any real interest in engaging with consumers themselves.

I will say one thing. Being #3 seems to have done wonders for motivating MS to improve their offerings. I have seem more changes in the last four years than I have in the last fourteen.
Also, you mentioned that you will be getting a lot of new hardware for all three ecosystems. Is that just your normal process or do you think using these services on newer hardware will make that much of a difference?

I guess I'm just glad we live in a world where we have choices and can have these discussions. I'm glad that we have Apple, Google, Dropbox, Microsoft, Amazon, various music services and content services all duking it out. That's good for us. It is interesting to me when somebody says they wish Apple or whoever would just fail. You really want that? I don't want one dominant player. I don't want Microsoft to be that dominant player - they were once and it kinda sucked - but it is almost like some people wish we could go back to that. I don't want anyone to be dominant. I want competition. Competition breeds better stuff. Microsoft has been playing catch-up, and in many cases has caught-up and surpassed, but that's only half the battle. If somebody is buried deep in Apple or Google devices/ecosystems/integrated services, you need to make a pretty compelling case to get that person away.

First, you can't save email attachments straight to your OneDrive from an Outlook email - I hardly use Gmail but I think you can do this to from Gmail to Drive.

Second and somewhat related, MS has IFTTT channels for OneDrive (and others like OneNote) and even created their own recipes to save Gmail attachments to OneDrive yet they lack an Outlook.com channel to do the same kind of actions.

Finally, my biggest personal gripe with Outlook is task support, or the lack thereof. The Task calendar view is weak at best by itself, again I think Google has much better tasks from my limited knowledge of that dark side. I don't think MS's Outlook calendars are quite on par with the big G's either but they work well enough for me.

Perhaps I'm spoiled from using Exchange accounts at work but I want most of this same functionality in my Outlook account. Again I'll compare Gmail and say its scope of services is closer to an Exchange equal than Outlook.com's are. I'm sure some of that is intentional since MS will gladly sell me an O365 SMB or E account that will give me those Exchange features but I think they could use some more features in their base free product to help entice new users - if for no other reason than the competition offers them for free.